I’m surprised by the reaction to my post on the Local Government Association (LGA) banned words story yesterday. Generally, people have tended to agree with me – the point of lobbying is not to do something that results in people having a lower opinion of your client, especially when that opinion is because you’re implying [...]
It’s amazing to think that one of the highest rated councils in the country with the lowest council tax, wastes money on jargon. But it does.
Like hundreds of other councils Wandsworth pays an annual subscription to the Local Government Association (LGA). The LGA, according to their website “is a voluntary lobbying organisation, acting as the [...]
It’s not really news, since the intention has been known for weeks – and could have been guessed for months, if not years – but Wandsworth formally set a 0% increase in council tax for 2010/11 last night at a special meeting of the full council.
They are always odd meetings. You would expect them to [...]
One of the givens of any election campaign is that you need a decent portrait photo. After all, who is going to vote for anyone who doesn’t have a decent portrait photo? That would just be crazy.
And now that my 2010 one has finally appeared on a leaflet I thought I’d dig out the photos [...]
After writing about the selection of a Lib Dem candidate earlier this week I’ve since discovered that there’s also a Green candidate selected for Battersea, Guy Evans. Interestingly, he’s either so confident of victory (or possibly so confident of defeat) he’s heading off mid-campaign to take part in the gruelling Marathon des Sables. I can’t [...]
You can tell the election is close when the Lib Dems start selecting for their no-hope seats like Battersea – and finally they have selected their candidate: Layla Moran.
I’ll start off with the things I think are good about her:
She uses a Mac
But there are lots of things wrong with the Lib Dems. One of [...]
Wandsworth is planning on keeping council tax at the same rate for the third year running. In one of those bizarre twists of local government finance Wandsworth’s average council tax is dropping because the Putney and Wimbledon Commons Conservators (who levy a precept to maintain the commons) are reducing their precept.
The video features Deputy Leader [...]
The Robin Hood Tax has been a fascinating example of emotion defeating logic and fact. As it invariably will.
I’m a Conservative, so I’m instinctively inclined not to support increases in tax, let alone new taxes. That’s not to say I don’t recognise the need for tax and (some) of what it funds. But the support [...]
Two stories recently have left me wondering how much people really think about how much we spend governing this country.
The first was the news that Cambridge City Council are to buy iPads for councillors in a bid to cut down on paper.
The second the continuing battle to ’save’ election night.
Of course Cambridge immediately attracted the [...]
I was surprised to get image to the left as spam from the Wandsworth Guardian. I suppose it’s a lot more targeted than most spam – but I’m not sure why they are sending it to me (although the subject asked me “please forward on to whom you think will benefit”).
I’m assuming few will benefit, [...]
James is a Councillor for Shaftesbury Ward and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Community Safety in the London Borough of Wandsworth. More...
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